{"id":854184,"date":"2026-03-17T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=854184"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:48:06","slug":"south-africas-largest-retailer-going-after-r900-billion-goldmine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/854184\/south-africas-largest-retailer-going-after-r900-billion-goldmine\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s largest retailer going after R900 billion goldmine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s largest retailer, Shoprite, is making a decisive push into the country\u2019s informal economy, targeting a market estimated to be worth R900 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes as competition intensifies among major players to capture a greater share of spending in townships and other underserved areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement on Monday, 16 March, Shoprite announced its planned acquisition of a majority stake in R&A Cellular, a deal that remains subject to regulatory approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said the move is about meeting customers where they already \u201clive, shop and transact.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be done by expanding access to essential financial and digital services through trusted, community-based outlets such as spaza shops and other informal merchants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These businesses play a central role in daily commerce across townships and peri-urban areas, often serving as the primary access point for goods and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R&A Cellular operates a widely used POS platform that allows informal retailers to sell prepaid airtime and electricity, as well as gaming and entertainment products, while also enabling card-based payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cR&A Cellular has built a sound business with a strong management team and a platform that is well regarded in the market,\u201d said Jean Olivier, general manager for financial services at Shoprite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that combining Shoprite\u2019s scale with R&A Cellular\u2019s reach creates an opportunity to broaden access to financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy combining our scale in everyday financial services with R&A Cellular\u2019s established presence in the informal retail space, we are creating a practical way to expand access to essential services, lower barriers to participation and support the communities that rely on informal retailers every day,\u201d Olivier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group highlighted that the integration of its services into the R&A Cellular ecosystem would allow customers to complete more transactions closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor customers, the integration of the Group\u2019s financial and value-added services into the R&A Cellular ecosystem will make it possible to complete more daily transactions closer to home, reducing the cost, time and inconvenience of travelling to shopping centres or banking outlets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa untapped R900 billion economy <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor informal retailers, the platform offers access to a broader, competitive range of services that can increase customer visits, improve cash-flow management and reduce reliance on cash, while strengthening their role as essential service providers within their communities,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a recent report by Standard Bank, South Africa\u2019s informal township economy is valued at around R900 billion, making it one of the most significant and under-tapped sectors in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The economy consists largely of small, often unregistered businesses that do not formally comply with labour or tax regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the sector plays a crucial role in absorbing unemployment and providing income for millions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also supports the broader economy by purchasing goods from formal suppliers and driving consumer spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard Bank described the informal economy as a \u201cvital engine of economic activity and resilience,\u201d noting that most businesses operate below the VAT threshold of R1 million in annual turnover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a sizeable portion generates between R500,000 and R750,000 a year, underlining the sector\u2019s profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also found that many informal businesses have a complicated relationship with formal banking, often relying on personal accounts due to concerns about fees, limited access to credit, and negative past experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Standard Bank did note that as businesses increase in scale, there is a noticeable pickup in digital bank transfers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shoprite has announced its planned acquisition of a majority stake in R&A Cellular to capture a greater share of spending in townships and other underserved areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":841709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[7520,853],"class_list":["post-854184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-shoprite","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854201,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854184\/revisions\/854201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}